Sula - Part One

While I think the story was slow in its start, the more I read the more hooked I became on the story and ended up reading up reading well into the morning hours.
Here are two passages that caught my attention:

"Then, for no earthly reason, at least no reason that anybody could understand, certainly no reason that Nel understood then or later, she smiled. Like a street pup that wags its tail at the very doorjamb of the butcher shop he has been kicked away from only moments before, Helene smiled. Smiling dazzlingly and conquettishly at the salmon-colored face of the conductor." (pg. 21)

I thought this passage really created a good image in my mind. I imagined Helene as a woman of pride, refusing to be shamed by the "salmon-colored" conductor. I really liked this passage because I think Helene is setting a good example for Nel, keeping her head held high while everyone on the train was trying to belittle her.

"She [Eva] remembered something else too, and try as she might to deny it, she knew that as she lay on the ground trying to drag herself through the sweet peas and clover to get to Hannah, she had seen Sula standing on the back porch just looking. When Eva, who was never one to hide the faults of her children, mentioned what she'd thought she'd seen to a few friends, they said it was natural. Sula was probably struck dumb, as anybody would be who saw her own mamma burn up. Eva said yes, but inside disagreed and remained convinced that Sula had watched Hannah burn not because she was paralyzed, but because she was interested." (pg.78)

I was so riveted throughout this entire section (1923). I was glued to the story at this point. Although the story has already established Sula as curious by nature, this passage reveals that Sula's curiousity isn't as innocent as originally believed. I also think that this passage is a foreshadowing of a lack of trust between the granddaughter and grandmother. After this event, Eva relationship with Sula is forever changed. As I read this passage, I was in shock. It appalls me that a girl would let her curiosity take precedent over her mother's life. My opinion of Sula changes drastically at this point in the story, as now I start to recognize the cold side of her personality.